I’m usually really cautious about buying games on the App Store. I am careful not to accidently buy five dollar games that revolve around first-person shooters and other tacky genres that play much better on console systems. Monument Valley is a different breed of five dollar games and it’s safe to say that my money was well spent despite a few problems.

Monument Valley is a gorgeous game. The color palettes pop out of the screen and the 3D environments have great textures and overall looks. The game really pushes the limit to what graphic standards “idevices” can produce.

The games mechanics fit like a glove to idevice finger movements. You rotate, spin, push and pull the world to create walkways for the character to navigate complex 3D environments. The movements are smooth and react perfectly to what the player does.

The two downsides to this game are how short the game is. There are only ten levels and they are all relatively short if you are good with these sorts of puzzle games. For the price tag I expect many additional levels released via add-on packages. There is also no “how to play” section of the game. I mean, it’s not needed as the mechanics are pretty much self-explanatory but some players may feel stuck when some tricky mechanics aren’t explained in an introductory section.

If you play games for the story, Monument Valley won’t appeal to you. If you do find any sort of story in this game, it’s confusing, choppy, and it leaves players feeling as to why they played this game in the first place.

Monument Valley is a beautiful game, one that will last for a long time especially if the producers release add –on content at a later date. Despite a few problems, Monument Valley is an innovative, creative, and mind-bending puzzle game that is sure to stump most players.